Max Gate trip

The National Trust team at Max Gate House very kindly offered to open the house for our young people on a day they were closed to the public.

Adam at Enterprise Mobility kindly loaned us a Minibus for the day so we were able to transport some of our young people. Lia our amazing volunteer drove the minibus for us.

The young people and the SYP team that went with them had a wonderful day. "It has just been great."

The National Trust staff , were fantastic - Elizabeth (Partnership & Programming Officer), Emma (involved with archology) Rod (a volunteer and knowledgeable about all things Hardy) and Caps (the gardener) - were all so welcoming and genuinely pleased to meet us all. The young people that attended improved their peer relationships and their involvement with SYP through this positive and educational activity.

One young person commented "the house was so cosy and and very inspiring". The staff said more than once that Hardy would have been so pleased to have our young people in his home.

The young people were so grateful to the National Trust team for having the house opened just for them

They were welcomed to wander the house asking questions as and when and even got to go right up to the servants rooms which are offices now.

The YP just soaked up the atmosphere and history.

The gardens were beautiful, especially on such a beautiful Autumnal day.

It was a lot of fun. The staff were so good and engaging.

They all sat out in the garden for lunch and the National Trust team joined them and they were just chatting with the young people, sang happy birthday one of our youth workers as it was her birthday that day.

One of the young people asked about volunteering there as part of Duke of Edinburgh and they can.

Emma asked our young people to give me feedback on any ideas they had for the future of the house and they all filled out feedback forms giving their ideas. This helped the young people improve their confidence and communication skills as they were communicating with people they did not know and were being listened to which helped improve their self esteem.

They finished the day with foraging in Thorncombe woods which was great fun.

Thank you to the all the National Trust team, Adam at Enterprise Mobility, Lia our SYP volunteer, Charity, Jane & Eli our youth workers for making the trip possible and a great day.